WOW
Walkout by angry Democrats
halts work at Texas House

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AUSTIN -- Outnumbered by House Republicans determined to pass a congressional redistricting bill, all but a few Democrats went into hiding today to keep the House from meeting. The House's GOP leader responded by ordering state troopers to find and arrest the missing lawmakers.

The House walkout not only blocked the redistricting bill but also action on all other bills on the calendar. The House cannot convene without at least two-thirds of the membership, or 100 members, present on the House floor under legislative rules.

Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick locked down the House chamber so that lawmakers already present could not leave, then he expressed his disgust with the Democrats.

"It is a disgrace to run and hide," Craddick said. After the roll call, he ordered that missing lawmakers be arrested and brought back to the chamber.

House Democrats said they were taking a stand for fair treatment of the minority party. They blamed U.S. House Majority Leader Tom Delay, R-Sugar Land, for pushing the Texas House to take up redistricting against the wishes of Democrats and some GOP state lawmakers.

I'm utterly amazed.

Texas Democrats are starting to remember the hardball politics of their spiritual leader, Lyndon Johnson. This is hardball politics. Even though this tactic has been used by Texas Democrats once before, this time, it is on a much larger scale. Redistricting for US Congressional seats is always a hotly contested issue, but it's gotten pretty intense as US House majority whip, Tom DeLay, former bug exterminator from Sugarland, Texas, once again reaches out his scaly tendrils from Washington to interfere in local affairs (he jumped into local politics as recently as a couple of years ago when he personally acted to withhold federal transportation funds from the city of Houston, joining the anti-rail side in the fierce political battle over light rail). Showing the typical Republican contempt for its own pro-local government style of federalism (Republicans always ignore their usual pro-local stance whenever states and municipalities choose to do things that Republicans don't like: medicinal marijuanna, electing Al Gore for president, right to die, etc.), Tom DeLay has intensely lobbied the Texas House of Representatives to redraw districts in such a way that Republicans would gain more seats and expand their slim majority in the US House. At least one hardball Texas Democrat, Austin's Lloyd Doggett, stands to lose his seat.

This is not a terribly difficult issue to understand, but it can get a bit slippery. The long and the short of it is that Republicans want to change district boundaries in order to lump Democrat voters together in fewer districts, rather than spread out among many districts as they are now. In the new Democrat-heavy districts, Democrats would, of course, always win. Overall, however, Republicans have a much better shot at winning more seats--there would be fewer Democratic voters in most of the new districts to vote against Republicans. Republicans are betting that this might heavily alter the 17 to 15 seat advantage that Texas Democrats now enjoy over Texas Republicans in the US House. DeLay says that redistricting in this way would more accurately reflect the will of Texas voters. Democrats say that Republicans are trying to amass more power on the cheap.

Guess who's side I'm on.

Hearing about this highly theatrical, highly effective move by Texas Democratic Representatives has both excited me and put me in a good mood all day long. I try to not be too terribly optimistic, but this walkout gives me some hope. Along with the recent Democratic filibuster in the US Senate, I'm starting to feel like there may be a tidal shift in the works. Will the Democrats now fight back? Has anger replaced paralyzing desperation and fear? ARE THE DEMOCRATS GOING TO GET US SOME DEMOCRACY?

I've got lots of reasons to be skeptical, but I'm going to enjoy this in-your-face victory for at least a day or two longer.

Here are some related story links from the Houston Chronicle:

Some rebel Texas lawmakers surface in Oklahoma town.

Plan took cunning, secrecy and overnight bags.

Walkout in Texas reverberates in Washington.

What they're saying about Democrats' walkout.

List of House Democrats who've walked out

Pick and choose.

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